Holyrood 2016
Scotland’s 16-17 year-olds enjoy democracy
‘young people in Scotland indeed show substantially higher levels of engagement with representative democracy (through voting) as well as other forms of political participation (such as signing petitions and taking part in demonstrations); and they…
Scotland’s fiscal hole could deepen post-Brexit
If the UK economy worsens post-Brexit, Scotland’s budget will be affected. Already, the Chancellor’s decision to abandon his fiscal targets and borrow has knock-on effects we’ll find out about in the autumn. Scotland’s fiscal framework…
The decline of Scottish media and political scrutiny
The news is of newspapers falling off that ‘print cliff wall’ – certainly in Scotland. But ‘real’ journalism – perceptive and objective as well as investigative – is required as never before to subject politics…
Toxic Tories kept in the attic
Ruth Davidson and her 30 MSPs are smiling. But the Tories are not yet secure as the main opposition party. Having fought off the LibDems for third place in the early years of devolution, they…
Forget identity politics but #Indyref2 is coming
The “Ulsterisation” of Scottish politics is overblown. Identity politics may matter but leadership and competence matter a lot more. That’s why the SNP and Tories are Holyrood’s big beasts – and Labour lost its way…
Why did farmers swing back to the Tories?
Six out of eight of the SNP’s losses at the May 5 Holyrood election came from Scotland’s rural regions. Stuart MacLennan digs into fertile ground and explains why Scotland’s farming communities sought to – and…
Holyrood 2016: class and constitutional politics
The 2016 Scottish election was meant to be a foregone conclusion. Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP was expected to achieve another majority in a repeat of 2011, but it hasn’t happened.
Has Scottish politics really changed?
The results are in and, in the second part of our podcast (recorded beforehand), our experts look forward to the next five years with suitably sceptical views on the prospects for radical change.
Five more years: dull it won’t be
Lots of commentators – we too – have dismissed the next term in the Scottish Parliament as heralding at best managerial competence, at worst policy timorousness. But there’s plenty to look forward to: not least…
The Sun, the SNP and a new Scotland
Politicians are in the game of professional cynicism, argues Loki in his latest philippic. Posing with and for The Sun goes with the territory. Yet we were promised a new politics in Scotland, not the…